Chair

ABSTRACT

A chair having a back adapted to fold over the seat portion of the chair and thereby impart a generally ellipsoidal shape thereto is made from cellular plastic materials and is especially adapted for use out of doors.

United States Patent Ghyezy [451 Apr. 11, 197 2 [54] CHAIR [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS [72] Inventor: Peter Ghyczy, Stettiner Str. 6, 2844 Lem- 2 692 639 10/1954 G 25 N178 x enovese fwde Hammer Germany 2,705,994 4/1955 Stattler ..297/378 x [22] Filed: Dec. 11, 1969 3,476,497 11/1969 Cashen et al. ..297/232 3,495.874 2/1970 Dean ..2 7/45o [2]] App]. No.: 884,223

Primary Eraminer-Casnrir A. Nimberg Anomey-Clelle W. Upchurch [52] US. Cl ..297/445, 297/378, 297/455,

297/458 [57] ABSTRACT 1 Int. Cl- A hair having a back adapted to ver the seat portion of [58] Field of Search ..297/1 7, 377, 378, 452, 456, the chair and thereby impart a generally ellipsoidal shape thereto is made from cellular plastic materials and is especially adapted for use out of doors.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Patented April 11, 1972 3,655,242

INVliN'l ()RI CHAIR This invention relates generally to furniture and more particularly to a novel cellular plastic chair.

It has been proposed before to mold or otherwise shape plastic materials into seats or chairs. Such chairs are normally fabricated by assembling several parts such as the legs, seat, back and arm rests together. Cellular plastics such as polyurethane foams and styrene foam are relatively light weight and have been used advantageously to manufacture chairs and other furniture. However, such chairs frequently fall apart in use and are relatively expensive to make since various parts must be assembled together.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel cellular plastic chair. It is another object of this invention to provide a cellular plastic chair particularly well suited for use of outdoors. Still another object of the invention is to provide a chair adapted to protect itself from foul weather.

Other objects will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation illustrating one embodiment of the invention in the open position;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in the closed position;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through the embodimentofFIG. l; and

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

The objects of this invention are accomplished, generally speaking, by providing a chair or similar seat construction having a body portion with a generally elliptically shaped cross section both transversely and longitudinally but having a cavity in its upper surface conforming to a seat or body supporting portion of a chair. The bottom of the chair body sits directly on the floor (without legs) and is substantially flat in a preferred embodiment to prevent rocking. A chair back journalled at its base to walls about the cavity in the chair body has an outer or back surface which is substantially elliptically shaped both transversely and longitudinally. The chair back can be pivoted about a horizontal axis to be in an upright and open position to serve as the back of the chair or to be in a substantially horizontal position fitting snugly over the cavity and protecting it from the weather. The cavity in which one sits is bordered on each side by arms which are integral with the remainder of the chair body and by a raised portion at the back which cooperates with the chair back when the latter is in the closed position to provide a generally elliptically shaped upper surface thereto. When the chair back is in a position overlying the cavity, the chair has a generally ellipsoidal sha e.

A indicated above, in a preferred embodiment, the chair back has a configuration which adapts it to lie flush along its sides with the inner walls of the arm rests and the back wall about the cavity and against the edge of the front of the cavity to form a seal against rain, dirt and other materials which would soil the sitting surface of the chair.

The invention provides a very economical and comfortable chair which can be moved easily and is adaptable for many uses. The chair can be manufactured very simply be conventional cellular plastic molding techniques. Although any cellular plastic can be used it is preferred to mold the chair body and back from a rigid polyurethane foam. Any of the heretofore known formulations can be used including those disclosed by Saunders and Frisch in Polyurethanes, Chemistry and Technology" Parts I and II published by lnterscience Publishers in 1964. The chair back can be used in its upright position or it can be sat upon while in the closed position.

Referring now to the drawing a preferred embodiment has a molded rigid polyurethane base or body 1 and a back 2. FIG. 1 shows chair back 2 with head rest 2' in both the upright and closed positions. Rotation of seat back 2 is about axis 7 is illustrated in FIG. 3. seat back 2 is journalled at 7 to integral arm rests 4 and 5. A flattened base 8 is provided for body 1 to avoid rocking of the chair. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 head rest 2' IS oft e proper configuration to extend down between arm rests 4 and 5 and fit against the front edge of seat cavity 9. Seat bottom 3, FIG. 3, slopes downwardly toward the rear of the chair. Step 6 provides a well for the lower end of chair back 2 to rotate about transverse axis 7. When closed as shown in FIG. 2 the ellipsoidally shaped structure can be used as a seat or, if support for the back is desired, chair back 2 can be moved to its upright position shown in FIG. 1.

The body and back of the chair may be enclosed in vinyl plastic such as polyvinyl chloride sheet, leather or fabric, if desired, or it can be injection molded, if a polyurethane foam is used, to produce an integral skin as shown in the art. A molded rigid polyurethane foam having an integral skin is preferred.

Although the invention has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that variations can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention except as it may be limited by the claims.

I claim:

1. A chair comprising a molded cellular plastic base, a wall extending around a first end and both sides of a cavity having the configuration of a seat in the upper surface of the base, that portion of the wall which extends around said first end having a step therein which forms a well, the bottom of said cavity sloping upwardly towards and terminating at the second end of the base, said second end being lower than the said wall, and an elongated molded cellular plastic member having a generally arcuate shape in section and pivotally mounted adjacent one end thereof on the wall along opposite sides of the cavity and near the said first end, the dimensions and configuration of said member corresponding substantially to the dimensions and configuration of the open upper end of the cavity whereby the lower end of said elongated member pivots in said well and said member when pivoted into a substantially horizontal position substantially covers said cavity and said chair has a generally ellipsoidal shape.

2. The chair of claim 6 wherein the bottom of said base is substantially flat.

3. The chair of claim 2 wherein said cavity is bordered on the sides by walls which are integral with said base and form arm rests on the sides of the chair.

4. The chair of claim 3 wherein said cavity slopes downwardly from the front of the base and terminates in an upwardly extending step at the rear thereof to form a well in which said pivoted end of said member turns as it pivots from a horizontal to a vertical position.

5. The chair of claim 4 wherein said body and said member are molded rigid polyurethane foam having an integral skin.

6. The chair of claim 1 wherein said body and chair back are I molded rigid polyurethane foam having an integral skin. 

1. A chair comprising a molded cellular plastic base, a wall extending around a first end and both sides of a cavity having the configuration of a seat in the upper surface of the base, that portion of the wall which extends around said first end having a step therein which forms a well, the bottom of said cavity sloping upwardly towards and terminating at the second end of the base, said second end being lower than the said wall, and an elongated molded cellular plastic member having a generally arcuate shape in section and pivotally mounted adjacent one end thereof on the wall along opposite sides of the cavity and near the said first end, the dimensions and configuration of said member corresponding substantially to the dimensions and configuration of the open upper end of the cavity whereby the lower end of said elongated member pivots in said well and said member when pivoted into a substantially horizontal position substantially covers said cavity and said chair has a generally ellipsoidal shape.
 2. The chair of claim 6 wherein the bottom of said base is substantially flat.
 3. The chair of claim 2 wherein said cavity is bordered on the sides by walls which are integral with said base and form arm rests on the sides of the chair.
 4. The chair of claim 3 wherein said cavity slopes downwardly from the front of the base and terminates in an upwardly extending step at the rear thereof to form a well in which said pivoted end of said member turns as it pivots from a horizontal to a vertical position.
 5. The chair of claim 4 wherein said body and said member are molded rigid polyurethane foam having an integral skin.
 6. The chair of claim 1 wherein said body and chair back are molded rigid polyurethane foam having an integral skin. 